Behelit

Behelits are stone fetishes of unknown supernatural origin said to govern the fate of humanity.[1] They are used primarily for summoning the angels of the God Hand, at which point their owners are granted a wish in exchange for a sacrifice. Most behelits are colored yellow, blue, grey or green, though the fabled Crimson Behelit (or Egg of the King) stands out among these, appearing only to individuals capable of being reborn as the God Hand's kinsman.[2]

Contents

Overview

An active behelit.

A behelit resembles an egg, covered with human facial features arrayed across its surface, giving it a rather disconcerting appearance. While seemingly inanimate most times, behelits appear to be living things, possessing an aura of unspecified dread about them. On occasion, one of a behelit's eyes may open and stare at an examiner, though this is usually disregarded as an illusion. Notably, when Puck was carrying the Count's behelit by one of its nostrils, it teared up out of discomfort.[3]

The purpose of a behelit is to create an Interstice between the Physical World and part of the Astral World where the members of the God Hand reside, granting their owners an audience with the angels. A behelit belongs to a predestined owner and therefore, no matter the circumstances, will always find its way to them when said owner's desire is great enough.[1] Upon activation, the fetish rearranges its facial features, forming a distressed face which sheds tears of blood and emits a low scream before creating a temporal junction.[4]

Behelits are not rendered null after activation, and at any time can be used to escape death by summoning the God Hand and offering another sacrifice.[3]

Crimson Behelit

The Crimson Behelit, also known as the Egg of the King, is the most distinguished of the arcane artifacts, said to grant one the world in exchange for the owner's flesh and blood.[5] Appearing once every 216 years,[6] when the time of the Eclipse draws near, owners of Crimson Behelits are destined to discard their humanity in exchange for becoming a God Hand angel.[2] It is unknown whether there were five different Crimson Behelits or if the same behelit came to each of the God Hand members in turn.

Trivia

While "behelit" has no meaning beyond the context of Berserk, "beherit" is the Syriac word for "devil", commonly ascribed to the Syrian culture's concept of Hell.

Additionally, "behelit" translates to [ベヘリット] in Japanese, or "beheritto".

As evidenced by the Count, who couldn't bring himself to sacrifice his daughter Theresia, behelit activators who refuse to offer a sacrifice are in turn dragged into the Vortex of Souls.[7]

Guts currently possesses the behelit that belonged to the Count,[8] which he took as a means of reaching the God Hand.